Shards of Faith
by Loaniss
Summary: A human with ambition stumbles across a druid who is willing to help. They band together to attack the sinister and malicious orcs who have called Redridge their home.


**Shards of Faith**

The female night elf had been riding for at least three hours straight, before the small town by the lake came into view. Terintha was her name, and she decided to take a quick rest. Kashim, Terintha's saber mount, went to take a drink in the lake while dismounted briefly and Terintha judged how far in the journey they had to go.

She knew a bridge spanned across the neck of the lake, so they could be there within the next couple of hours. Her intentions were just to spread the word of the recruitment of her sentinel unit, The Guardians of Elune. Hoping some of the humans that lived in the seemingly calm area would be willing to join their ranks. However, Terintha had her doubts. The humans' trust towards her people was limited, yet also understandable. Her people back on the continent of Kalimdor were lacked a true insight to how humans were, and only judged them based on hearsay or stories. Terintha jumped slightly as her saber nudged her, telling the night elf he was done, ready and rested. The druid nodded before scratching her saber behind the ears, and within a few minutes there were off again in full-gallop.

"What do you mean?!" The angry mage slammed his fist on the magistrate's desk, forgetting where he was.

The nearest guard went to take action, but the Magister held out his hand in prevention.

"Denmord, I understand your feelings, but we cannot spread what little forces have left. We will have to wait until our request for more soldiers is accepted."

The mage restrained this time, "So, what? You'll let those blasted orcs ransack the place where ever they want? Steal from our crops? Take our goods?"

For the first time the magistrate showed emotion. His heavy eyebrows frowned so much the mage thought he was going to break his monocle, "Do you think this is easy to watch? Do you not think I've tried everything to bolster our numbers? Look around you, Denmord. Every woman and man doing everything they can to keep this town safe and efficient. So if you have nothing else to say, then please leave."

And without another word Denmord raised his hand in the air, magically teleporting himself to his small home on one of the close hills that hugged the town of Lakeshire. He had not been so furious in a long time. The orcs robbed the town the other day. And while it is not something that happens too often, what angered the mage was the fact that nothing was being done to prevent future attacks.

Suddenly a familiar discomfort was felt in the mage's stomach. He couldn't be bothered with the hassle of sorting out a meal now, so without much thought Denmord slung his cloak around his neck and left the house.

The inn was roughly how Denmord imagined it to be; buzzing with people regardless of the attack the happened not so long ago. He grumbled quietly to himself as he found himself a seat, waving and smiling to familiar faces, which lifted his mood a little. Or maybe it was the welcoming atmosphere the inn always had. Loud talk and laughter could be heard, people were celebrating their victory over the orc attack. And so they should, Denmord thought.

The waitress came with take Denmord's order, "Greetings Denmord. What can I get for you today?"

"Well met, Darcy. Err, could I have the eight pounder steak. With the salad and potatoes, please." Denmord said with a smile.

"Sure thing. No drinks?" Darcy asked as she wrote the noted the order on paper.  
"No. No, thank you. I'll go to the bar afterwards."

"Alright." The waitress went to walk away, but then stopped, "Also, er, thank you for what you did the other day. Your magic sent a few of those orcs running for their lives." Darcy said with a smile.

Denmord chuckled, "It was nothing, I did what any of us would've done."

"Yes, you're right. We all did what we have to do…" Darcy suddenly stared off distantly before realising where she was and getting back to working.

Within the next hour, the meal arrived and Denmord wolfed down the meal faster than he expected. However, it hit the spot and with a lifted mood and content stomach, the mage went over the bar.

"Hello there, Denmord. What can I get for you tonight?" said the barkeeper, Daniels.

"Evenin' Daniels. Stout, please… It's just what I need."

"I bet. None of us saw the attack coming, none of us. But we got 'em in the end! Here, have this one on the house." The barkeeper handed a flagon of stout to the mage before turning his attention to another costumer.

Denmord took a long pull, taking in the malty goodness, until a tall figure came and sat next to him attracted his attention. Upon laying eyes on it, he quickly covered his mouth to prevent him spitting out his beverage.

It was a female night elf. He had often heard things about them, and occasionally saw them from a distance in Stormwind. But still, this was one night when he wasn't expecting to see one. The first thing Denmord noticed was her vivid green hair which flowed down her back, and tied tightly at the end. And, as the stories said, there were leaves and the occasional vine weaved into it. Her orchid coloured skin stood out against the plain browns of her jerkin, boots and slacks. She leaned forward across the bar, trying to get the attention of the barkeeper, however she noticed he was preoccupied.

Quickly, Denmord swallowed his drink and become civil once again. To his surprise, the whole of the inn carried on as if she was regular. Denmord wanted to stare, but knew it was rude to do so and went on drinking the rest of his drink pretending she wasn't there. Until…

"Excuse me, sir." It was the undeniable voice of the elf, there was a certain degree of softness to it which wasn't present in a human's voice.

Denmord turned and welcomed her with a smile, "Hello there, miss. How can I help?" As he said that, the man could help but stare into the silver eyes that had a noticeable glow.

"Hm, well I was wondering if I could put these up in your town. Recruitment slips for my sect of sentinels."

"I don't think there's much of a point to that," said Daniels, who slipped into the conversation, "you see, in this town we lack security. So us civilians have decided to take arms and defend the town ourselves. So, we accept any man or woman who's able to help, so you won't find any idle potentials here, I'm afraid. Best trying Stormwind City, or Northshire."

The night elf couldn't hide her frustration and disappointment, "I… I understand," and with that got up and went to leave.

Suddenly an idea sparked in Denmord's head, "Uh, excuse me, miss? Err, did you say you're part of a sentinel sect? Like warriors, would you say?"

The elf look up in thought, before nodding, "Hm. Yes, you could say that."

"Well, em, on behalf of the town I'm asking if you could help us."

Daniels quickly made himself heard, "Now now, Denmord, I don't think it's wise to get this young lady involved. She's just passing through."

The night elf frowned, "What is the problem?"

"Well you see, there an orc encampment not too far from here. And a couple of days ago, they raided this town. Thankfully, we managed to fight them off, but not without injury or losses. I, on behalf of the town remember, was wondering if you could help us rid them from the area" After the request the mage winced, expecting a quick and cold rejection.

The night elf pondered, "But I am the only one here. The rest of the Guardians are out in the world. You cannot expect me to do this alone."

"No, no. You won't go alone. I will come with you."

"Denmord, you're being ridiculous." Daniels said while managing to clean the bar while paying attention to the conversation.

The elf peered at Denmord, "Hm, just say I did accept. How would you defend yourself? You don't look physically capable."

And with a flick of the hand, the human had a live flame burning within his palm.

"Ah, a mage…" The elf said in a doubtful tone.

"Look, their only strength is their numbers. I have faced a few in combat, and their attacks a sluggish, their weapons are dull and crude and their armour is nonexistent. I'm sure if we attack them now, they would be caught off guard; not only at retaliation, but also at their opponent." Denmord said while smiling at the night elf.

Her silvery eyes scanned the inn, "Hm. Very well, I will see what I can do. But I have my saber with me. He will need a place to sleep." The night elf said after a long thought.

The human mage grinned, "Excellent. I'm sure someone in the stables can look after him. So, what's a saber? A breed of horse?"

The next morning, Denmord awoke and was relieved to find he was in bed, and not in the paws of a gigantic saber which had likeness to Kashim, who he had the pleasure of meeting yesterday.

While he got ready, Denmord couldn't help but get anxious. Yes, he was a practitioner of the arcane, yet… he never imagined himself getting ready for a war. Not yet, anyway.

When clothes and bandages were packed, Denmord was nearly ready. He snatched up his staff and went out to look for Terintha. The night before, she declined Denmord's offer of him paying for a room for the night. She said she would spend the night outside, where she could 'feel the moon and her stars'. Whatever that meant...

Denmord jumped as he found the night elf standing there, waiting for him outside his door.

"Good morning, Denmord. You are ready to go?"

Denmord quietly gasped. Unlike last night, when Terintha looked approachable, now she looked mysterious and somewhat suspicious in her new garments. She no longer wore the simple leather jerkin and slacks, but wore clothes that looked like they were just made of short dark feathers. The only section of clothing that was void of these dark clothes was the upper chest, where the sign of a white crescent moon. Her staff was also unlike he'd ever seen. It was made of a dark wood then out the top the wood spread out like petals and in the centre was a silvery glowing crystal.

Suppressing the little bit of fear that crept up, the mage replied, "Yeah, I just got to get something from the inn first."

The two set off to the inn. Being quite early in the morning, only a few people were up.

Suddenly, something came into the mage's mind, "Where's, err, Kashim?"

"Ah, he is in the stable. He may not like there, but I would fear for his safety if I let him roam the wilds of this region." Terintha sighed.

As they reached the inn, Denmord could see Darcy outside with a package.

"Good morning, Denmord." Darcy said before turning to the elf and bowing, who bowed in return.

"Good morning, Darcy. I'm guessing that's the food we talked about."

Darcy nodded, "It is. The meats been dried, and extra preservatives have been put into the bread. Basic rations in other words."

"Wonderful…" Denmord looked at package with disappointment as he packed it away.

"Alright, well good luck. And please, please come back if you're wounded." She gave him a hug and sympathy was evident in her face.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'll give those blasted barbarians what they had coming." The mage smiled at the waitress before moving on, and with the elf behind. After a few farewells and good lucks from the local guards and market owners the human and night elf set out the wilds of Redridge.

For the next couple of hours it was an uphill trek. According to Denmord, the location of the orcs wasn't exactly hidden. He said scouts had once be deployed and spotted their stronghold. However, the Stormwind soldiers that were going to wipe them out never came, even after the return of King Varian Wrynn.

"…And what's worse," the mage continued, "it seems we're not the only ones in this position. The magistrate says that other regions are like this! Left to defend our own towns and living in fear of another attack. While I -"

Before Denmord knew it, he was yanked back by his cape and an axe swiped in front of his face only a few inches away. Once he found his bearing again, the mage found himself and his night elf comrade surrounded.

"An ambush…" Terintha whispered loud enough for the human to hear.

"Evidently. I wonder if they knew we were coming…"

The orcs surrounded them. Their crude weapons barely reflected the sunlight. Their grey-green skin glistening with sweat, and they began grunting and smirking maliciously, blood was going to be smothered on their hands today.

"Alright, on three," Denmord whispered, "One… two… three, " and in a sparkle of silvery light, the mage magically teleported himself outside the circle. While Terintha acted swiftly and struck one of the orcs on the leg. As expected the orc dropped slightly, and Terintha used him as a stepping stone out of the circle of orcs in the opposite direction of the mage. With the comrades separated, the orcs seemed they had to do the same.

Denmord was quick to act as soon as he had some distance. He began to chant words under his breath and weave ice into his hands. Once there was enough, he sent the blast of pure frost at one of the orc's feet freezing him the place. The orc began to hack the thick ice away, regardless of it spreading all the up to his waist. Another two began to charge towards the mage, a female with an axe Denmord didn't want to get close to and a male who getting ready to shot the human with his bow and arrow. Denmord had to think fast.

With one hand he sent a small blast of air at the charging orc. When she was on the ground, the mage focused on the bow and arrow in the orcs hand. After having a firm mental grip on it, set it aflame in orc's hands. Without hesitation, the orc threw the weapons down in fear. Denmord would've laughed if it weren't for the orc that was now getting up. He quickly shaped flame into his hands and threw it and the rising orc. As the flames consumed her simple cotton clothes, Denmord used this as his advantage and simply intensified the flames. After her desperate screams, the orc stopped moving.

The now bow-less orc archer roared as he pounded towards the mage. Denmord couldn't help but smile in the corner of his mouth. With the power of the arcane, he began to compress a large amount of air below himself gathering more and more energy while he waited for the orc to get closer enough. And the mage timed it right, as the floor erupted as the compressed air exploded sending both orc and human into the air. Unfortunately for the orc, he didn't have any spells that adjusted his fall rate, unlike the mage, and met his end as he landed head first.

With a soft landing, the mage sighed with relief. He turned to the night elf to find that the orcs attacked had been dealt with. Two of them was on the ground not breathing while another constricted in thick vines, which by looks of twisted limbs, was his doom. Terintha herself was tending to a wound on her forearm. With a glowing hand, she covered it for a few moments before wrapping it with a bandage.

"Is everything ok?" Denmord asked. The toll of using magic was taking effect and he took a seat and began taking breathes.

"Yes, I am fine, thank you. How are you?" Terintha asked after making sure the wrapping of the bandage was good and tight.

"I'm fine." The mage said before taking a swig from his water pouch, "I think its best we stay off the road. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they have more ambush parties waiting for us. This road looks perfect for it," Denmord look at the path ahead. There were natural obstacles that made ideal hiding places for ambush parties waiting for the oblivious wanderer.

"Understood," said the elf, "Although, I hope we do not have to stay off the path for too long. I do not like the feeling I am getting when I stare into the wilds of this region."

"Alright, I'm sure we can make it too the abandoned mill that' not too far away. I'm sure we'll be fine."

After a rest, the two set of the wilds of Redridge. With a sense of urgency, and the fact the hill was now a lot less steep, they decided to go through the wilds quickly, not waiting for any dangers that lay in the suspicious rocky forest of the Redridge to pounce upon them. After a while, Denmord recognised where they and decided it was time to go back onto the road, with relief as he too began to hear weird beast-like calls and hisses. He wondered if this was what Terintha was talking about earlier.

As expected the mill was in front of them. Due to the previous ambush, they approached the area with caution, keeping eyes and ears sharp. As they got the abandoned building, Denmord suggested they should rest.

"If you look over there, you can see Stonewatch." The mage said point, and settling down to start on his lunch.

The elf squinted slightly, and shielded her eyes from the sun, "Hm? It does not look like any orc encampment I have ever seen…"  
"That's because it once belonged to the people of Lakeshire. That was until the orcs stole it from the people. Survivors claim their power was unlike anything they've seen before. Strange green-flamed creatures -"

"Green-flamed!?" Terintha shot a look at the mage, but then frowned, "So… These orc dwell in fel magic. They have to be stopped. Who knows what their intentions could bring this land when they have that sort of twisted knowledge behind them."

"Ugh, fel magic. It's for scum, who are too lazy to study. But there's nothing wrong with it, really. I mean, it's not as pretty or amazing as say as other branches arcane magic, but I think we all learnt our lesson there. The Kirin Tor will make sure no ill will comes from that side of magic ever again.

Terintha remained silent and faced away from Denmord. He hoped it wasn't he said, and remained quiet until they both fed and ready to move on.

The two made their advancement towards the Stonewatch. Apparently, this place was once purged by a group of skilful warriors, however it seems the numbers of the orcs were less 'purged' and more 'scattered' as their numbers just accumulated once more, seemingly. Denmord wanted to end this, make sure orcish raids didn't happen again.

The travel to Stonewatch was nervous one. Denmord soon found he was having doubts of being able to do this. The orcs were strong, and what if they were simply outnumbered? Going nearly all-out against three orcs wasn't an option. He was going to have plan and reserve his strength for a long battle. However, that wasn't to be as the gateway to Stonewatch was unguarded, upon further investigation, the two found it was the same case with grounds around Stonewatch and the tower.

"This is weird, I would've -" Suddenly the mage became constraint. Something invisible forced him to the ground, disregarding the fact that the man's face smacked into the ground. Denmord also heard the night elf struggle and shout in her native tongue. Suddenly, it became clear. The orcs lowered their defences once they've captured their prisoner.

The orcs conjurers dropped the illusion of Stonewatch being empty. There were walking into a stronghold full of enemies, Denmord suddenly felt so stupid, then suddenly guilty. What he told the night elf…

He noticed one orc suddenly make his presence known and he was respected. He bent down on one knee to speak to the human, "Congratulations on finding us, you will get your… rewards soon enough."

Denmord was pretty sure he heard the whole stronghold laugh.

"And don't worry; we will treat the elf girl nicely…" He said gloating, pulling the mage's head up by his hair.

Denmord felt the rage boil inside of him. He would've done something about it, but these orcs were not as idiotic as he thought and obviously had magic-barring effects in the shackles they tied him with. With all the power he summoned all the mucus he could in this throat and projected it onto the orcs grinning grey face. The speed the smile twisted into a face of disgust was shocking, and Denmord felt a huge force knock him in the side of the head which knocked out his senses and vision.

Denmord awoke to find he was somewhere dark. After a few blinks, he found it wasn't so dark, there was torches… strange coloured torches. And there were figures, huge orcish figures. Suddenly someone shouted something incoherent, and Denmord's head throbbed so hard he thought his head was going to burst.

After a while that gradually faded and Denmord began to feel around. But there was nothing within his reach. He began to try and sit up.

"Stop squirming, human! Your time will come…"

Ignoring the warning, Denmord continued to try.

"I said STOP!"

Suddenly the mage felt something hot poke him on the legs a few times. The mage squirmed and yelled in pain. Regardless of how loud his own screams were, Denmord could always heard the low chuckles of the orcs.

Then failure began to sink into the mages mind. He couldn't believe how stupid he was. Not only did throw his own life at the orcs, but the life a night elf. He guessed her absence would not go unnoticed back in her home and the night elves would come to Redridge demanding where Terintha is, and then the idea of not seeing people again, then their lives being in the hands of these pigs, now even more so.

He couldn't help but blink away the stinging in his eyes as his heart began to feel heavy with sorrow and regret. Strange memories began to fill his head, one of which was when he was still a boy, and his mother called him in for supper. The sheer joy of supper being ready was the complete opposite of what he was going through right now.

A compensation of death, he thought, was that he was going to rejoin his mother and father.

Suddenly there was a strange roar, and the sharp bang and metal being forced open. Denmord turned to see even a larger figure than the orcs. It was throwing them around and blasting them with a strange white energy that was unlike anything Denmord had seen before.

Quickly the large figure came over to Denmord then stopped abruptly. Then it became clear Denmord was behind bars. At first, Denmord felt blessed and began to squirm away from this large being. He assumed it was some crazed natural monster that had decided to take down the orcs stronghold, and everything within it, on a whim.

"STOP!" It suddenly shouted, or Denmord assumed it shouted as it was now the only thing standing. Either way, the mage listened and froze.

Suddenly the creature let out another roar, this time it's eyes, which now Denmord only realised were glowing, intensified into a silvery-white colour. After bellowing its rage it grabbed hold of the gates. As soon as it did, vines began to sprout from the floor and curve themselves around the bars of his prison. After a while, when the vines had reached the ceiling and spouted colourful flowers, the creature ripped the bars from its set place and dashed it to one side.

The creature lifted the human up easily onto his feet before turning him and smashing the shackles with, what felt like, a strong grip. It turned him back around and then patted him on the shoulder before disappearing on a soft green light; leaving a beaten up Terintha and strange smoke behind.

Terintha looked exhausted, but didn't collapse as she looked even though she was going to. She cupped her hands together, and then after her hands exuded a light revealed a palm of her hand. In it was a golden, and slightly glowing, seed.  
"Eat it." Terintha said.

Denmord looked at her, and saw she looked rougher than he did. One of her eyes were swollen, blood leaked from her lips and there were several bruises on her face. Several holes and slashes were in her garments.

"What? Are you alr -" Denmord began.

"Eat it!" Terintha frowned this time around.

Without another word Denmord took up the seed and shoved it into his mouth, biting before tasting. The seed burst, and instantly the most luxurious taste filled his mouth. He suddenly he felt weak and feel to his knees. He then began to notice this amazing perfect sweet taste spread across his whole body, tending to every wound and sore he had.

He looked up to see Terintha with her hands into the air, taking deep breathes. A soft glow came about, and foliage began to grow at her feet. Denmord could the wounds heal at drastic rates, and then checked himself to find that he had gone through the same experience.

Terintha lowered her hands to find herself it of breath, "We have to find the leader, and be done with him."

"What? What about the other orcs? And my things where are they?" Denmord looked rather confused.

"Do not worry about that now." Terintha said, and as she did one of the foliage that was at her feet grew with a large stem then flowered in a way that looked very much like Terintha's staff. When it was at full bloom, and the glowing crystal in the middle was at its brightest, the druid snapped it off and handed it to the mage.

"You can use my staff for now. I won't need mine…"

The human smiled at the elf, "Thank you."

The human and elf ascended any stairs they found. The dimly lit place was hard to navigate through, as objects were often hard to distinguish from a distance, and often turned out to be dead or barely conscious orcs. Eventually, they found a set of double doors. Denmord blasted the door open.

"What did I say!? Not to -" Said deep voice. When the dust settled, it was another orc. Unlike the others, this one had a sense of wit about him, a face Denmord instantly recognised as his spit target.

"It has come to this…" said another voice, high and malicious. Both human and elf turned to see a black whelpling, resting and watching with interest at the new arrivals.

The orc looked as though he was going to explode with anger, "Gargh! I will not lose to likes of you, wretched scum! You incursion will cost you your lives! And your precious town! Singe! Get them!"

The whelpling, who assumed was called Singe, stretched before giggling, "Wonderful…"

The orcish leader grabbed his gleaming axe and dark metal shield before charging.

Denmord had never felt such a rush, and charged also with his elf comrade following closely behind.

The night elf turned towards the dragon whelpling, while Denmord focused on the orc. The mage shot a blast of fire at the orc, who simply knocked aside with his axe. The orc charged at amazing speed, and before Denmord knew it the orc was close enough to strike. Before he could do so however, Denmord magically teleported himself further into the room, behind the orc leader. Suddenly, he found himself stopping just before a stream of flames, which Terintha managed to avoid before firing bursts of green energy towards the young dragon. Denmord quickly turned back to the orc who was baring teeth in fury. Denmord fired a wave of frost towards the orc, who braced the cold, but was slowed down nonetheless. The mage then began to use his emotion has power, his anger began to build up inside him, when he could not hold it in any longer, it released into form of an explosion of force, sending the roof and some of the walls blasting into the air. Dragon, elf and orc were knocked to the ground. Denmord suddenly fell down. That blast had taken a huge toll on his body and couldn't stand any longer. He looked to the sky find it was evening, and stars were beginning to sparkle.

Terintha suddenly landed behind him and outstretched her hands and spoke in her mother tongue once more. However, as soon as she did, a strange feeling came about; a feeling of safety and reassurance. Denmord looked up to find the light of the stars intensify many time over before they came crashing down to land around Terintha and himself.

There was a high-pitch yelp, "Ahh, mother… I have failed -" The whelpling, Singe, sentence was cut off due to small explosion.

The orc himself went to get up, but looked amazed by what was going around him, Denmord wondered if he was felt what was in the air. However, the sight of him was suddenly washed away by the crashing of another star that landed quite close, if not on top of the orc.

The stars stopped their crashing course towards the land below and Terintha swayed before collapsing. Denmord quickly managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

Her silver eyes began to leak tears, "Would be you believe it? She aided us… Elune herself…"

"Thank you…" Denmord managed to say before looking up and seeing the stars glimmering above in the evening sky. Like shards of the faithful in the darkest of times.


End file.
